1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a gable top carton, and more particularly, a gable top carton of the type used to contain milk and similar liquids provided with an integral handle for facilitating the carrying of the carton and pouring of its contents through the gable top.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For many years, cartons for milk and similar liquids were formed in part by setting up a preformed blank with the bottom of the carton closed and dipping the carton in molten paraffin to seal it. Thereafter, the carton was filled and its top closed.
The wax or paraffin coated carton has been almost entirely supplanted by a heat sealable thermoplastic coated carton. The manufacture of the latter carton is different from the wax coated carton in several material respects. Instead of applying the sealing coating after the carton is almost completely formed, the coating of thermoplastic is applied to a paperboard web by extruding it as a thin film onto the paperboard web as one of the earliest steps in the formation of the carton and before any of the other steps are performed such as cutting a blank from the web, scoring and folding it, and the like. After coating, the web is cut into blanks, which are scored and folded into cartons and its bottom structure is sealed by applying heat to the overlapping flaps or panels by which the bottom structure is formed, the heat bringing the thermoplastic between adjacent surfaces. Similarly where the carton has a gable top, or one which when unfolded forms an integral pouring spout, it is folded and sealed along a ridge line by heating the thermoplastic coating.
The carton details, per se, and manner of assembly thereof are fully disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,120,335. As shown in more detail in this patent, the carton bottom structure is formed by folding panels transversely across the bottom of the carton, the panels being folded on score lines. The bottom structure is completed by applying heat and pressure to the panels which are folded upon one another. The thermoplastic which has been applied to the paperboard fuses during the application of heat and pressure to form a sealed bottom structure.
After the carton bottom structure has been formed, the carton is filled with milk or other liquid and then the top seal is formed by folding the gable top panels on score lines and fusing adjacent surfaces.
Such cartons are somewhat inconvenient to handle, especially in the larger gallon sizes which have become more desirable to the consumer because of decreased cost in buying milk in quantity. Not only are such filled cartons heavy to carry, but upon opening of the gable top to pour the contents, the large bulk of the side of the carton precludes the side of the carton from being readily grasped to tilt the carton. Accordingly, users have resorted to pivotable or tiltable racks which support the carton while pouring the contents, leading to increased cost and bother in their use.
This problem is readily solved by the carton of the present invention. The carton of the invention is provided with an integral carrying handle which can be readily grasped to hold the carton while pouring its contents through the gable top.
While the provision of a handle on the carton may appear to be a simple solution to the problem, no one in the art has been successful in economically manufacturing such a carton with an integral carrying handle heretofore. The carton blanks which are cut and scored from the coated paperboard web must be laid out and positioned on the web to attain maximum utilization of the paperboard, leaving as little scrap as possible. The addition of handle components to the blank above the top seal must be accomplished in such a manner so the entire standard carton blank layout on the paperboard web accommodates the handles within the parameters of the web while retaining the approximate number of blanks obtained from the same area of paperboard web heretofore. To complicate this problem, the blank width and height must also be maintained to strict specifications precluding redesigning of the blank by, for example, increasing its width and decreasing its height to yield the same cubic capacity. Finally, the web width must be such as to fit existing web handling equipment without substantial modification.
Additionally, the location and joinder of the handle components on the blank must not interfere with the breaking of the seal so that the contents can be poured from the container.